I'M A GENIUS IDOL BUT MY PASSIVE IS SUNFISH: Chapter 70

 TL by Miru

I'm a Genius Idol but My Passive is Sunfish: Episode 70

“Sir… I’m feeling so hot.”

Baekya cast an imploring glance at Jihan, hoping for some intervention about the stifling hat. But Jihan just gestured toward the stylist, signalling Baekya should speak up himself. With a slight tremble, the timid Baekya spoke up.

“Oh dear. Are you hot?”

The manager, rushing over, immediately removed Baekya’s hat, saying it wouldn’t do for him to be too hot.

“You’re right, he does look better without it,” the stylist agreed, noticing the sweat on Baekya’s forehead and calling for a makeup touch-up. Then, she rummaged through her bag and pulled something out.

“How about we try this?”

It was phrased as a suggestion, but Baekya knew he didn’t have much of a choice. Her hand was already reaching toward his face, holding a pair of sparkling clip-on earrings—a large blue gem encircled by tiny white jewels.

‘…Princess earrings?’

The sunfish’s anxious eyes darted toward Namkyung for support, but he looked just as powerless. Desperate, Baekya sent a pleading glance at Minsung, but all he got was a warm smile and a small fist pump of encouragement. And so, Winter Baekya was born.

“Special stage group, gather up!”

A staff member opened DASE’s waiting room to call Baekya.

“I’ll be back,” Baekya said, greeting the staff and members before leaving with Deokjin.

“Are you nervous?”

“What?”

“You don’t look so good.”

Deokjin, guessing it might be the earrings, assured him they looked great and offered to fetch a mirror if needed, leaving Baekya no choice but to respond.

“No, you’re right. I’m just nervous.”

In truth, it wasn’t only the earrings. He couldn’t bring himself to say that he was more nervous about messing up the special stage, so he went with that excuse.

“I’ll be waiting here. Good luck, Baekya! Fighting!”

 

Baekya, with a nod to Deokjin’s enthusiastic encouragement, joined the Winter Song members.

“You’re here? Wow, you look fancy.”

Geumil tapped his own ear, referring to Baekya’s earrings.

“Do they look weird?”

“No, they suit you.” He joked that Baekya’s plain face worked well with something so flashy.

“Right, thanks. I’ll make sure to introduce you to Na Yulmu. You guys would hit it off.”

“Na Yulmu? Sounds great!”

As they kept up the playful banter, Baekya’s worries seemed to fade. Even while chatting, he kept touching his earrings. Just then, Harang, the last to arrive, brushed past him, bumping his shoulder.

“Ow.”

The impact was strong enough that Baekya would’ve fallen if Geumil hadn’t caught him.

“Oops.”

It was clearly on purpose, but Harang acted innocent. Baekya hadn’t expected an apology, but a little nod was all he got. Even Geumil muttered a low curse, realising Harang had crossed the line.

“This guy’s really crossing the line now.”

“Forget it. It’s fine.”

Baekya sighed, trying to smooth his furrowed brow. They say patience can prevent even murder.

‘Once this performance is over, I’ll never have to be on the same team with that jerk again.’

Though his patience had been tested far beyond its limits, Baekya managed to calm down and turned his back on Harang. It was a bit childish, but he made a point of conspicuously turning so that his earring swayed. Then he felt it—his other ear was bare.

“…Huh?”

The earring was gone. He bent down to look at the floor, but it was too dark to see anything clearly, not even his shoes.

“What’s wrong?”

“My earring. I think it fell when Harang bumped me.”

“What?”

It must have fallen when he collided with Harang. Geumil also searched the floor, but it was no use. The backstage area was generally dim, with minimal lighting to enhance stage effects and audience focus. During transitions, only small flashlights were used.

“Winter Song team, get ready to go on stage.”

A staff member with a headset shone a light on the stairs leading to the stage as the previous team descended after performing only the first verse. Although it seemed odd that they performed only partway, the large screens on either side continued to display their prerecorded performance seamlessly. Year-end award shows were special events where the year's active artists gathered to perform. The broadcast alternated between live performances and prerecorded footage.

“Let it go. We need to head up now.”

“But still…”

Seeing Baekya’s reluctance, still searching the floor, Geumil pushed him up the stairs.

“Come on, just go.”

It was ironic—earlier, Baekya had been begging his team for help to get out of performing, but now he was filled with regret over losing the earring.

“We’re standing by.”

Eventually, Baekya stood in formation with mismatched earrings, giving Harang’s back a quick glare before fixing his gaze. The video of the previous team ended, and the intro of ‘Snowflake’ began to play through the in-ear monitors.

 

* * *

 

“Hey! It's starting!”

“Hey? We’ve got eyes too, you know.”

Chung shouted as he pointed at the TV in the waiting room, causing the surrounding members to lightly push him and scold him. As the youngest dramatically swayed, Jihan grabbed him by the neck to steady him.

“Sigh, when will he ever grow up?”

Namkyung shook his head slightly as he looked at Chung.

“Why would I carry iron? It's heavy. You carry it.”

//TN: The word “to grow up” or “to mature” in Korean sounds a little bit like the words “to carry/lift iron”

“What? This little punk. You’ve been talking quite informally lately, huh?”

“…Namkyungie is such a boomer.”

Namkyung, who hadn’t expected such a response, was soon overwhelmed by the teasing that followed.

“Careful, a fly’s gonna fly into your mouth.”

Minsung, looking completely unbothered, casually tapped Namkyung’s jaw shut. Unlike Namkyung, who was unfamiliar with the term “boomer,” Minsung had heard it plenty of times and knew Chung wasn’t being too serious—it was just his way of calling someone a nag.

“He doesn’t mean much by ‘boomer.’ And he knows he did something wrong. That's why he's acting like that.”

The leader, ever the peacekeeper, even gave a subtle defence of Chung, who now sat quietly, staring straight ahead as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

But this calm didn’t last long.

“It’s really starting!”

 

[Gayo Daejeon Special Stage]

[DASE Baekya]

 

The screen displayed the lineup introduction video, starting with Winter Song members’ profiles. First up was Baekya, dressed in a school uniform, his stage footage playing along with his name.

“Zombie hamster~”

Yulmu cheered, pointing at Baekya on the screen. Faint bite marks from Baekya were still visible on his arm. After introducing the other blond members, Harang appeared last. The members, who knew he had debuted but didn’t know he was preparing a stage with Baekya, looked surprised.

“What’s this? Did you know about this, hyung?”

“…No, I didn’t.”

Since Deokjin always handled Baekya’s personal schedules, even Namkyung didn’t know what was going on. Baekya had never mentioned anything except for BB9’s Geumil, so everyone was surprised.

“How did they end up crossing paths like that...?” Namkyung scratched his head in bewilderment.

“Well, they’ve never bumped into each other at the company, right? We don't know the full story, so maybe there’s no discomfort between them.”

That was Namkyung’s hopeful thinking.

 

[Five Winter Fairies]

 

The Winter Song team stood in a butterfly formation, backs to the audience. Baekya, front and centre with his striking pink hair, was hard to miss. As the intro music kicked in, they shifted into a straight line. Geumsam, at the front, spun around with a wave and quickly stepped aside, letting Geumil, Baekya, and Harang follow with their playful moves. At the back, Geumil flashed a wide smile as he began the first verse.

 

- Last night I made a wish

Let it snow

I wished I could meet you

 

It was a smooth start. As the sub-vocalist, Geumil’s clear voice warmly greeted the fans.

At the far end of the formation, Baekya was fully immersed in the choreography. After Geumil, the blondes took over.

“Where’s Baekdo’s other earring?”

Yuyeon, who was watching the stage leisurely with his legs crossed, leaned forward with interest.

“Right? He lost it already,” Jihan let out a small laugh, noting that Baekya, who didn’t even want to perform in the first place, somehow managed to get through most of it. As the chorus began, Baekya moved to the center. Standing there, the “zombie hamster” spun around gracefully, pulling his arms toward his chest.

 

- Falling for you

Piling up in your heart

I won’t be able to move

 

As his pink hair swirled dramatically, fans on social media were already raving about how they could practically smell Baekya’s shampoo.

 

- Falling for you

I’m pouring toward you

The whole world is turning white

 

Then came Harang’s part. Despite his personality flaws, his vocal performance was impressive. Even before his expulsion, Harang had always been the core of ID’s debut lineup—a talent that even Baekya had to admit.

“So fresh, so full of energy,” Minsung said, smiling fondly like an old senior.

Given that members from five different teams were performing, the stage choreography and part distribution were perfectly coordinated.

 

- Falling softly in your footsteps

I’m silently following you

 

Geumsam’s part started the second verse. Baekya, who sang the chorus before Harang, added harmony to Geumsam’s voice, enriching the song. Geumil and Geumi then shared the second verse's chorus. After the chorus, the melody changed, leading to Baekya’s trademark high note part, which he had showcased multiple times during DASE’s activities.

 

- When you lift your head and meet my eyes

I melt into you

 

But Baekya appeared earlier than expected. The members watching the performance tilted their heads in confusion.

“I guess Baekya’s not doing that part? I totally assumed he would,” Yulmu remarked, puzzled.